All excerpts

41 events, 255 sessions, 2087 excerpts, 118:34:10 total duration

Most common tags:
Ajahn Chah (422)     Ajahn Pasanno (183)     Monastic life (140)     Suffering (129)     Culture/Thailand (123)     Relinquishment (114)     Mindfulness of breathing (105)     Culture/West (104)     Teaching Dhamma (103)     Death (102)    

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Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 8: Thirty-Two Parts Slideshow 2Ajahn Karuṇadhammo – Jan. 15, 2015 [Unattractiveness]

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[Session] Ajahn Karuṇadhammo reviews the slideshow again with an emphasis on internal contemplation and insight. [Recollection] [Insight meditation]

Reference: Video of the slideshow.


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1. “Why is there no liquid blood in the photographs of flesh and sinews?”

Reference: Thirty-two parts slideshow video.


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2. “Where does a stomach ache originate from?” [Sickness]


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3. “Is there a particular orientation for the intestines?”

Story: Ajahn Karuṇadhammo’s first surgery as a nursing student. [Health care]


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4. “During the meditation, is it appropriate to envision the stomach itself with undigested food?” (The stomach isn’t listed in the 32 parts.) [Visualization] [Food]


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5. Comment: Perhaps the thirty-one parts were part of the medical culture at the time of the Buddha.

Comment by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo: The brain had a lot less significance in those days. [History/Early Buddhism]


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6. Comment: I cultivate saṁvega by contemplating the heart. [Sense of urgency]


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7. “Why are the first five parts chosen for special contemplation?” // [Ajahn Mun] [Sensual desire]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 9: Ajahn Chah Remembrance DayAjahn Pasanno – Jan. 16, 2015

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1. Description of the Ajahn Chah Remembrance Day at Wat Pah Pong. [Ajahn Chah Remembrance Day] [Wat Pah Pong] [Ajahn Chah] // [Devotional practice] [Gratitude]


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2. Reading from the draft biography of Ajahn Chah: The founding of Wat Pah Pong. [Ajahn Chah] [Wat Pah Pong] [Ajahn Sao]

Reference: Stillness Flowing p.123 .


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3. Readings from the Introduction to Listening to the Heart by Kittisaro and Ṭhānissarā (commercial).

Story: Kittisaro’s first meeting with Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Chah] [Conceit] [Body scanning] [Humor]

Stories: The Squirrel Story and the Donkey Story. [Learning]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 10: Contemplation of DeathAjahn Karuṇadhammo – Jan. 17, 2015 [Recollection/Death]

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[Session]

Reading: Nine point death meditation from the Lam Rim.

Reading: AN 6.19: Mindfulness of Death (1).

Reading: AN 6.20: Mindfulness of Death (2).

Reading: MN 10: Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta, The Foundations of Mindfulness, Charnel ground contemplations.

Reading: “Only the Practice of Dharma Can Help Us at the Time of Death,” Larry Rosenberg, Tricycle, Summer 2000.


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1. Comments by Beth Steff about the Lam Rim teachings. [Vajrayāna] [Bhikkhu Bodhi]

Response by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo.


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2. Recollections of visiting the morgue in Thailand. Recounted by Debbie Stamp.


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 11: Elements 1Ajahn Karuṇadhammo – Jan. 18, 2015 [Elements]

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[Session]

Reading: MN 10: Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta, The Foundations of Mindfulness, Elements.

Reading: MN 62: Mahārāhulaovāda Sutta, The Greater Discourse of Advice to Rāhula.

Reading: “Wholehearted training” in Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah, p. 635 (excerpt).

Reading: “Why Are We Here?” in Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah, p. 131 (excerpt).


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1. “Has there been discussion of getting a skeleton for Abhayagiri?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Unattractiveness] [Abhayagiri]


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2. “Is it common for body contemplation to veer towards aversion?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Mindfulness of body] [Unattractiveness] [Aversion] // [Translation] [Not-self] [Ajahn Chah]

Sutta: MN 62: Mahārāhulaovāda Sutta, The Greater Discourse of Advice to Rāhula.


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 12: Elements 2Ajahn Pasanno – Jan. 21, 2015 [Elements]

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[Session] Reading: “Theory: Elements,” Meditation: A Way of Awakening by Ajahn Sucitto, pp. 128-138.


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 13: Elements 3Ajahn Pasanno – Jan. 22, 2015 [Elements]

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[Session] ““How you develop four-elements meditation,” Knowing and Seeing by Pa Auk Sayadaw, pp. 116-120.”


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1. “Does the imbalance mentioned [in Knowing and Seeing by Pa Auk Sayadaw, pp. 120] come from focusing in too much on a single element?”


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2. Appreciation for the elements meditation in Knowing and Seeing by Pa Auk Sayadaw, pp. 116-120. Comment by Ajahn Kaccāna. // [Mindfulness of body]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Investigation of states] [Delusion]


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3. “What did Winnie-the-Pooh say about intellect versus understanding?” [Winnie-the-Pooh] [Nature of mind] [Humor]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 14: Mindfulness the Gatekeeper 1Ajahn Pasanno – Jan. 23, 2015 [Right Mindfulness]

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[Session]

Reading: Right Mindfulness pp. 8-12.

Reading: Iti 34: Ardour. [Ardency]


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1. Comment: Venerable Analayo points out that present moment awareness and remembering the past are not mutually exclusive. [Present moment awareness] [Ven. Analayo]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno.

References: Satipaṭṭhāna: The Direct Path to Realization by Venerable Analayo, Chapter 3; “On some definitions of Mindfulness,” Rupert Gethim, Contemporary Buddhism Vol. 12, No. 1, May 2011.


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2. “How can one be mindful of the beginning of thought?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno, Ajahn Kaccāna and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Directed thought and evaluation] [Mindfulness] // [Appropriate attention] [Perception] [Proliferation]

Comments about observing proliferating thoughts. [Conditionality] [Right Effort] [Restlessness and worry] [Mindfulness of mind]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of breathing] [Feeling]

Sutta: MN 118 Ānāpānasati Sutta.


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3. “Could you clarify the last two foundations of mindfulness?” [Mindfulness of mind] [Mindfulness of dhammas] // [Heart/mind] [Directed thought and evaluation] [Emotion]


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4. “Could you clarify “the body in the body?”” [Mindfulness of body] // [Translation] [Pāli] [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro] [Direct experience] [Self-identity view]

References: Amaravati Chanting Book, p. 91; Right Mindfulness by Ajahn Ṭhānissaro. [Elements] [Proliferation] [Perception]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 15: Mindfulness the Gatekeeper 2Ajahn Pasanno – Jan. 24, 2015

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[Session]

Reading: Right Mindfulness pp. 12-14. [Right Mindfulness]

Reading: AN 10.58: Roots.

Reading: SN 51.15: The Brahmin Uṇṇabha.


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1. “What does “headed by” refer to?” [Concentration] [Translation] [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro] [Pāli]


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2. “Is the Buddha quoted as saying “I teach a path of the application of effort?”” [Buddha] [Energy] [Right Effort] [Eightfold Path] // [Aids to Awakening]

Sutta: AN 3.137: Doctrine of energy (vīriyavādā)

Sutta: DN 16: Mahāparinibbāna Sutta


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3. “Is there a distinction between viriya and vayama?” [Energy] [Right Effort]


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4. “Can you speak about the roots of wholesome and unwholesome desire?” [Energy] [Desire] [Becoming] [Skillful qualities] [Unskillful qualities] // [Discernment] [Right Effort] [Learning] [Ajahn Chah]

Sutta: AN 10.58.

Reference: Listening to the Heart by Kittisaro and Ṭhānissarā (commercial).


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5. “How can you strive without becoming tense and grim?” [Right Effort] [Humor] // [Mindfulness of body] [Ajahn Chah]


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6. Story: Ajahn Sumedho brings a “farang Buddha” to Ajahn Chah. [Ajahn Sumedho] [Buddha images] [Ajahn Chah] [Culture/West]


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7. Ajahn Sucitto speaks of feeling water washing through you [as a way of releasing tension related to effort]. Comment by Debbie Stamp. [Ajahn Sucitto] [Elements] [Right Effort]

Story: Khun Kesari’s brother enters concentration by visualizing drinking a glass of water. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Concentration] [Visualization]

Story: Kesari’s mother walked into Wat Ban Tad before there was a road. Told by Ajahn Pasanno. [Wat Pah Ban Tat] [Relics]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 16: Mindfulness the Gatekeeper 3Ajahn Pasanno – Jan. 25, 2015 [Right Mindfulness]

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[Session] Reading: Right Mindfulness p. 14-21.


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1. Comment: The phrase “ancestral territory” [mentioned in SN 47.6] doesn’t carry oomph for (non-Native) Americans. Contributed by Ajahn Kaccāna. [Culture/West] [Culture/Native American]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Technology] [History/America]


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2. “Why is the intellect not included in the five cords of sensual pleasure?” [Sense bases] [Sensual desire] // [Culture/West] [History] [Culture/Thailand] [Craving]

Sutta: SN 47.6-7.

Follow-up: “Are the pīti and sukha of samādhi considered mano (intellect) states?” [Rapture] [Happiness] [Concentration] [Aversion]


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3. “Why doesn’t the passage (SN 47.7) mention obsession with painful objects?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Desire] [Aversion]


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4. “Could it be that the five cords of sensual pleasure need an outside stimulus to be activated while the mind is an internal frame of reference?” [Sensual desire] [Sense bases] [Heart/mind] // [Craving] [Concentration]

Sutta: MN 137: Replacing sensual pleasure with the pleasure of samādhi.


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 17: Mindfulness the Gatekeeper 4Ajahn Pasanno – Jan. 26, 2015 [Right Mindfulness]

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[Session]

Reading: Right Mindfulness p. 21-22.

Reading: AN 4.245: Training.

Reading: Sn 1.4: The Farmer Bhāradvāja.


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1. “If you observe that you are angry, do you use effort to abandon anger or just watch it?” [Aversion] [Right Effort]


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2. “Does the term mindfulness always imply right mindfulness?” [Mindfulness] // [Abhidhamma] [Aggregates]

Reference: Right Mindfulness p. 21-22


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3. “What word does the translator (Saddhatissa) render as “immortality?”” [Translation] [Deathless]

Reference: Sn 1.4: The Farmer Bhāradvāja


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4. “What is a plowshare? ...So mindfulness is both the goad and the plowshare?” [Mindfulness] [Similes]

Reference: Sn 1.4: The Farmer Bhāradvāja


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5. “How does mindfulness relate to choice?” (continuing the anger question) [Volition] [Aversion] [Mindfulness] [Right Effort] // [Discernment] [Language]


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6. Comments by Abhayagiri Saṅgha about the nature of practice. [Forgiveness] [Similes] [Aversion]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Habits] [Idealism] [Patience] [Ajahn Chah] [Goodwill] [Long-term practice]

Comment: Patience remind me of going through deep grief. Contributed by Beth Steff. [Grief]


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7. Quote: “Do you still have anger?” “Yes, but I don’t take it.” — Ajahn Dune. Quoted by Debbie Stamp. [Ajahn Dune] [Aversion]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ajahn Chah] [Arahant]

Follow-up: “Do we know if the Buddha had anger?” [Buddha] [Sutta]

Comment: Māra cam to the Buddha many times after the Buddha’s enlightenment. Contributed by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Māra] [Buddha/Biography]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Idealism] [Culture/West]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 18: Mindfulness the Gatekeeper 5Ajahn Pasanno – Jan. 29, 2015 [Right Mindfulness]

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[Session]

Reading: Right Mindfulness p. 23-24.

Reading: AN 4.41: Concentration. [Concentration]


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1. “What are the rewards for the skillful monk?” [Monastic life] [Skillful qualities] // [Happiness] [Mindfulness] [Clear comprehension] [Concentration]

Sutta: SN 47.8: Simile of the skillful cook. [Similes] [Similes]

Story: Ajahn Mun criticizes Ajahn Mahā Boowa for developing meditation like a tree stump. [Ajahn Mun] [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Admonishment/feedback]


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2. Outline of AN 4.41 Samādhibhāvanā: Four types of concentration. [Concentration] // [Psychic powers] [Mindfulness] [Clear comprehension] [Liberation] [Outflows] [Perception of light] [Impermanence] [Aggregates]

Comment about the difference between the third and fourth developments of concentration. [Conditionality]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Self-identity view]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 19: Mindfulness the Gatekeeper 6Ajahn Pasanno – Jan. 30, 2015

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[Session]

Reading: Right Mindfulness p. 24-28. [Right Mindfulness] [Right Concentration]

Reading: MN 19: Dvedhavitakka Sutta, Two Kinds of Thought.


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1. “How does cruelty differ from ill will?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Ill-will] // [Goodwill] [Compassion] [Right Mindfulness] [Concentration] [Right Effort]

Sutta: MN 19: Dvedhavitakka Sutta, Two Kinds of Thought.


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2. “When Ajahn Ṭhānissaro talks about Right Concentration, are Right Concentration and jhāna one and the same?” [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro] [Right Concentration] [Jhāna]


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3. “What are antidotes to the strained, tired mind?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Sloth and torpor] // [Directed thought and evaluation] [Skillful qualities] [Mindfulness of body] [Mindfulness of breathing]

Sutta: MN 19: Dvedhavitakka Sutta, Two Kinds of Thought.


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4. “Is pain an obstacle to reaching right concentration?” [Pain] [Right Concentration] // [Happiness] [Postures] [Direct experience]

Quote: “What’s really painful about pain is the way we hate it.” [Aversion]


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5. “Can jhana occur in walking meditation?” [Jhāna] [Posture/Walking] // [Concentration] [Ajahn Viradhammo]

Sutta: AN 5.29: Walking Meditatation.


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 20: Mindfulness the Gatekeeper 7Ajahn Pasanno – Jan. 31, 2015

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[Session] [Right Mindfulness] [Right Concentration]

Reading: Right Mindfulness p. 28-31.

Reading: SN 47.40: Analysis.


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1. “What is your experience of directed thought and evaluation?” [Directed thought and evaluation]

Quote: “Directed thought [vitakka] is like lifting up the object in the mind. Evaluation is then looking at it from different angles.” — Ajahn Chah [Ajahn Chah] [Similes]


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2. “Does the consistency of vicara correlate with samadhi?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Directed thought and evaluation] [Concentration] // [Rapture] [Happiness] [One pointedness]

Sutta: MN 119: Simile of the bathman. [Similes]


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3. “What does Ajahn Geoff mean by “frames of reference?”” [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro] [Right Mindfulness]


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4. “Is “arising and vanishing” the same as “arising and ceasing?”” [Impermanence] // [Pāli] [Conditionality]


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5. “How does the general sense of awareness fit into the jhana factors?” [Jhāna] [Present moment awareness] // [Clear comprehension] [Right Mindfulness]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 21: Mindfulness the Gatekeeper 8Ajahn Pasanno – Feb. 1, 2015

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[Session] [Right Mindfulness] [Right Concentration]

Reading: Right Mindfulness p. 31-34.

Reading: SN 47.4: At Sālā.

Reading: Iti 90: Foremost Faith.


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1. “Is it easy for a person with attainments to deal with the world?” [Stages of awakening] [Everyday life] // [Discernment] [Conceit] [Culture/West] [Wrong concentration]

Quote: “To push away the world is also to reifying it. One gives it power when one is afraid of it.” [Craving not to become] [Proliferation] [Fear]

Laypeople with highly developed meditation practice function well in the world. Comment by Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Lay life] [Meditation/Results] [Energy]


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2. “What is the Pāli word translated as disjoined or detached [in SN 47.4]?” [Translation]

Comment: SuttaCentral would have the translation.

Note: The Pāli word is visaṁyuttā (SuttaCentral).


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 22: The Ānānpānasati SuttaAjahn Pasanno – Feb. 2, 2015

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[Session] Reading: The Ānāpānasati Sutta (MN 118) describes how the sixteen steps of mindfulness of breathing fufill the four foundations of mindfulness, which in turn fufill the seven factors of enlightenment. [Mindfulness of breathing]


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1. “Which Pāli word is translated as “fading away?”” [Pāli] [Translation] [Dispassion] // [Cessation]


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2. “How does nirodha differ from arising and ceasing?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Cessation] [Impermanence] [Pāli] [Translation] // [P. A. Payutto] [Dependent origination]


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3. “How do you practice with painful feeling?” [Pain] [Mindfulness of feeling] [Suffering] // [Emotion] [Blame and praise] [Happiness] [Proliferation]

Sutta: SN 36.6: Sallatha Sutta, The Arrow.


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4. “What does “know the mind as mind; know feeling as feeling” mean?” [Right Mindfulness] [Relinquishment] // [Proliferation]

Comment: Self-view forms around the feeling from sense contact. [Sense bases] [Contact] [Feeling] [Self-identity view]

Sutta: MN 18: Madhupiṇḍika Sutta, The Honeyball.

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Volitional formations] [Perception]

Sutta: MN 118: Ānāpānasati Sutta. [Mindfulness of breathing]


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5. “Should the sixteen steps be practiced simultaneously?” [Mindfulness of breathing] // [Meditation/General advice] [Right Effort]

Sutta: MN 118: Ānāpānasati Sutta.


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6. Comment by Ajahn Ñāṇiko: There is the concern that we practice meditation to make something happen. [Meditation/General advice]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Neutral feeling] [Delusion]

Sutta: MN 44: Cūḷavedalla Sutta, The Small Discourse Giving an Elaboration. [Feeling] [Unwholesome Roots]


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7. Quote: “How do I get me some of that non-grasping stuff?” — Ajahn Sucitto. Quoted by Beth Steff. [Ajahn Sucitto] [Clinging] [Self-identity view] [Humor]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno.

Story: “Do I look macho?” Told by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Chithurst]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 23: The Structure of Breath Meditation 1Ajahn Ñāṇiko – Feb. 5, 2015

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[Session] [Mindfulness of breathing]

Reading: Right Mindfulness p. 93-96.

Reading: Book of the Discipline Part 1 p. 116-121, Pārājika 3 origin story.

Reading: AN 9.36: Jhāna.

Reading: SN 54.8: Simile of the lamp.


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 24: The Structure of Breath Meditation 2Ajahn Ñāṇiko – Feb. 6, 2015

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[Session]

Reading: Right Mindfulness p. 96-99 [Mindfulness of breathing]

Reading: SN 22.79: Being Devoured.

Reading: SN 36.11: Alone.


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1. “Why does the Buddha describe perception in terms of colors but consciousness in terms of tastes?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno, Ajahn Karuṇadhammo and Ajahn Ñāṇiko. [Perception] [Consciousness] [Sense bases] // [Bhikkhu Bodhi] [Commentaries] [Ven. Analayo] [Memory] [Feeling]

Sutta: SN 22.79: Being Devoured; footnote 114 in Bhikkhu Bodhi translation.

Follow-up: “Could you say that perception is identification whereas consciousness is more refined?” [Aggregates] [Not-self] [Self-identity view] [Rebirth] [Translation] [Similes]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 25: The Structure of Breath Meditation 3Ajahn Ñāṇiko – Feb. 8, 2015

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[Session]

Reading: Right Mindfulness p. 99-100. [Mindfulness of breathing]

Reading: Forest Desanas p. 52.

Reading: Unpublished Luang Por Baen talks.


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1. “In Right Mindfulness, Ajahn Ṭhānissaro focuses on how the first three tetrads apply to high states of concentation. How can these be useful in more mundane levels of meditation?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Right Mindfulness] [Mindfulness of breathing] [Jhāna] // [Investigation of states] [Rapture] [Volitional formations] [Heart/mind]

Commentary: Path of Purification by Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli, p. 137: Five levels of pīti.


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2. Comment: Ajahn Ṭhānissaro encourages mindfulness of the body. [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro] [Mindfulness of body] // [Delusion]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of breathing] [Jhāna]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 26: The Structure of Breath Meditation 4Ajahn Ñāṇiko – Feb. 9, 2015

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[Session]

Reading: Right Mindfulness p. 100-105. [Mindfulness of breathing]

Reading: SN 46.53: Fire.


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1. “Can you speak about when to use which aspects of satipatthāna?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Right Mindfulness] [Mindfulness of breathing] // [Right Effort]


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2. “Could anyone give examples of how to apply the enlightenment factor of pīti when the mind is sluggish?” Answered by Ajahn Ñāṇiko and Ajahn Pasanno. [Rapture] [Sloth and torpor] // [Ajahn Mahā Boowa] [Gladdening the mind] [Investigation of states]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 27: A Gift of DhammaAjahn Ñāṇiko – Feb. 10, 2015

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[Session] Reading: Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah, pp. 225-231: “A Gift of Dhamma.”


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1. “What is the Thai that is translated as “mind” and “mind objects?”” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Thai] [Translation] [Heart/mind] [Moods of the mind] // [Ajahn Mun] [Ajahn Chah]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 28: The Method of Developing CalmAjahn Ñāṇiko – Feb. 13, 2015

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[Session] Reading: Chapter 2, “The Method of Developing Calm” in The Natural Character of Awakening by Chao Khun Upāli, p. 30-39. [Right Mindfulness]


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1. Discussion of the reading and Tan Chao Khun Upāli as a scholar, administrator, and practitioner. Led by Ajahn Ñāṇiko, Ajahn Kaccāna and Ajahn Pasanno. [Chao Khun Upāli] [Study monks] [Types of monks] // [Ajahn Mun] [Tudong] [Geography/Thailand]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 29: Liberation in the Palm of Your HandAjahn Ñāṇiko – Feb. 15, 2015

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[Session]

Reading: MN 9: Sammādiṭṭhi Sutta, Right View (excerpt).

Reading: Readings on the suffering of birth and aging from Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand by Pabongka Rinpoche (commercial). [Birth] [Ageing]


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1. “Do the mental faculties of meditators diminish as they age?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno. [Ageing] [Memory] [Long-term practice] // [Ajahn Chah] [Sickness] [Preah Mahāghosānanda] [Personal presence]

Story: H. H. The Dalai Lama meets Preah Mahāghosānanda. [Dalai Lama]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 30: Chanting for Ruth DenisonAjahn Pasanno – Feb. 19, 2015

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[Session] Ajahn Pasanno reads email from Ruth Denison’s caretakers describing her declining health condition and leads the Abhayagiri community in chanting blessings for this elder teacher followed by a ten-minute meditation and dedication of merit. Ruth passed away on February 26. [Ruth Denison] [Sickness] [Death] [Goodwill]


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1. Chanting: Paritta chanting for Ruth Denison. [Protective chants] [Ruth Denison]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 31: Fleshing Out the Four Tetrads 1Ajahn Pasanno – Feb. 20, 2015

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[Session] [Right Mindfulness]

Reading: Right Mindfulness p. 109-112.

Reading: SN 51.20: “Analysis.”


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1. Discussion of Ajahn Ṭhānissaro’s translation “practice jhāna.” [Jhāna] [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro] [Translation] [Pāli]

Sutta: SN 47.10 Bhikkhunūpassaya Sutta, At the Nun’s Residence.


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2. “What is a synonym for lassitude?” [Language] // [Sloth and torpor]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 32: Fleshing Out the Four Tetrads 2Ajahn Pasanno – Feb. 21, 2015

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[Session] [Right Mindfulness]

Reading: Right Mindfulness p. 112-113.

Reading: MN 44, Cūḷavedalla Sutta, The Shorter Series of Questions and Answers.

Reading: AN 8.63: “In Brief.”

Reading: MN 101: Devadaha Sutta, At Devadaha.

Reading: AN 8.81: “Training.”


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1. Comment: Explanation of ambiguous Aṅguttara Nikāya numbering. [Sutta] // [Bhikkhu Bodhi] [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro]


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2. “Why did the Buddha ask the monk to develop meditation in many ways [in AN 8.63]?” [Meditation] [Meditation/General advice] [Buddha/Biography] // [Directed thought and evaluation] [Rapture] [Happiness] [Equanimity] [Jhāna] [Calming meditation] [Cessation of Suffering]

Recollection: Ajahn Chah would rarely label meditation states. [Ajahn Chah]


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3. “Are the Four Frames of Reference the same as the Four Foundations of Mindfulness?” [Right Mindfulness] [Translation] // [Bhikkhu Bodhi] [Ajahn Ṭhānissaro]


Abhayagiri 2015 Winter Retreat, Session 33: Fleshing Out the Four Tetrads 3Ajahn Pasanno – Feb. 22, 2015

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[Session] [Right Mindfulness] [Concentration] [Formless attainments]

Reading: Right Mindfulness p. 113.

Reading: AN 4.94: “Concentration.”

Reading: AN 9.36: “Jhāna.”


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1. “Does AN 4.94 undercut the whole debate about whether to practice insight meditation or samādhi first?” [Insight meditation] [Calming meditation] // [Views] [Buddha] [Suffering] [Human]

Quote: “Just work with what you’ve got and try to free the mind. It’s pretty straightforward.” [Liberation]


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2. Commentary on AN 9.36, “Jhāna.” [Jhāna] [Formless attainments] [Characteristics of existence] [Aggregates] [Liberation] [Deathless] [Progress of insight] [Relinquishment] [Nibbāna]


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3. “Does the Buddha mean [in AN 9.36] that one can enter and emerge from these attainments at will?” [Jhāna] [Formless attainments] [Volition] // [Similes]


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4. “After emerging from these attainments, can one function in the world?” [Jhāna] [Formless attainments] [Everyday life] // [Discernment] [Relinquishment] [Spiritual bypass]

Comment: If you happen to exist in a body, it seems you need to learn how to live in a body. [Form]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Mindfulness of body] [Thai Forest Tradition] [Liberation]


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5. “Related to the need to emerge from neither-perception-nor-non-perception and cessation of perception to contemplate the five khandhas [in AN 9.36], don’t some of the commentaries imply that that’s what you do with first jhāna; that insight is not possible even in first jhāna?” [Formless attainments] [Aggregates] [Insight meditation] [Commentaries] [Jhāna] // [Views]

Recollection: Ajahn Chah emphasized that every step of the way there has to be awareness. Awareness has to form the basis of the whole practice. [Ajahn Chah] [Mindfulness] [Clear comprehension] [Right Concentration] [Right View]


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6. Comment by Ajahn Karuṇadhammo comparing putting the mind towards the Deathless with Dzogchen practice. [Deathless] [Vajrayāna] [Emptiness] [Progress of insight]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Spiritual bypass]


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7. “Why is the Deathless described as an element?” [Deathless] [Elements]


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8. “Do you have to emerge from jhāna to contemplate the characteristics of the aggregates?” Answered by Ajahn Pasanno and Ajahn Karuṇadhammo. [Jhāna] [Insight meditation] [Aggregates] // [Mindfulness] [Thai Forest Tradition] [Knowing itself]

Sutta: AN 9.36: “Jhāna.”

Quote: “Contemplation gets really good when you stop thinking.” — Ajahn Chah [Ajahn Chah] [Directed thought and evaluation]


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9. Comment: Sometimes I find applying awareness exhausting. [Mindfulness] [Sloth and torpor]

Response by Ajahn Pasanno. [Tranquility] [Faith]